|
Every Day is Precious: Give a reflection of your joy and comfort
By ROB PAYNE
For Williamson A.M.
Since getting her tracheostomy in March, every morning when my wife Marcy wakes, she needs a vigorous lung suctioning.
This involves rolling her on each side, inserting a tube through her trach site and suctioning the phlegm that has collected overnight. We all have phlegm, but you and I cough or clear our throats to remove it. Marcy needs help removing hers.
Before rolling her on her side, I have to remove all pillows that helped her during the night. Somehow every morning I also have to remove a Beanie Baby you know, one of those little stuffed animals; it is usually right by the pillow for her head.
For the longest time, I thought of this as a nuisance, another thing to do, to take the Beanie Baby back upstairs where it belongs. Then one day, after suctioning, Marcy used her speech synthesizer to ask to have the Beanie Baby back. It took longer than it should for me to figure out why:
Like most Americans, we have far too many things. One of the things we have too many of is Beanie Babies. Our 9-year-old daughter Darcy has a normal 2 feet by 8 feet closet in her room. The closet is normal except the floor is covered in Beanie Babies.
The closet is knee-deep my knees, not hers in Beanie Babies.
The closet wasn't that way when we bought the house. It seemed harmless each time it happened: Marcy or I would be in a store with Darcy, Darcy would see a Beanie Baby, ask for it; it was less than $5, so we would buy it. Darcy would play with it during the shopping trip and in the car on the way home. Everyone was happy.
Today Darcy has trouble remembering what four times eight is, but she remembers the name of each Beanie Baby in her closet.
She remembers both the name printed on the tag and the name she created for each. Each night she fishes around the floor of her closet and picks which one is lucky enough to sleep with her tonight.
She still remembers where she got each one and from whom Chip she got when we went to Disney World three years ago, this one Aunt Denise sent her, that one I gave her when she hurt her elbow, and so on.
While she's in the closet, she picks out a Beanie Baby for Marcy also. Each time she gets a Beanie Baby out, it reminds her of a time of great joy and comfort.
Darcy lays a Beanie Baby on Marcy's pillow when she comes down to kiss her good night. Marcy gives her one of her priceless smiles in return. Marcy knows. She has always known.
Like the poor widow who gave only two small coins (Mark 12:41-43), Darcy is giving more than it seems. She's giving comfort with her good-night kiss. And, for when she's not right there, through the Beanie Baby, she shares something that gives her joy and comfort, knowing that it will comfort Marcy also. Of course, the Beanie Baby isn't a joy or comfort for Marcy, except that it is a perfect reflection of the love, joy and comfort of Darcy.
If you know a family in need, think about what gives you joy and comfort, then give a reflection of that to a member of that needy family. If it's not obvious how it gives you joy and comfort, write a little note to go with it.
Your reflection is sure to brighten their spirit.
Please join us Monday, Oct. 20 at Mulligans for a golf-and-dinner fund-raiser for Marcy's care. Go to www.EveryDayIsPrecious.com for more information. Every Day Is Precious is a column to remind us to treat everyone we see today as if it could be the last time we see them. It is written by Rob Payne, whose wife, Marcy, was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) in August 2000. Now 40 years old, she has gone from winning 5 and 10K races to being quadriplegic and on a ventilator at home. For more ways to help others, to find more about Marcy, or to receive e-mail updates on her condition, visit www.EveryDayIsPrecious.com. Readers may contribute to her care by sending donations to Every Day Is Precious, 2051 Harvington Drive, Franklin, TN 37069. If you have helped someone without being asked, or know of someone who has, share it with others. Send to rob@everydayispreciou
|